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A Premier League executive has admitted that Newcastle United's takeover 'heightened concerns and encouraged clubs to seek action'.

The ruling from Manchester City's arbitration case against the Premier League revealed that this figure, whose name has been redacted, emailed the top-flight on behalf of his club and 10 others just five days after the buy-out was completed in 2021 The executive requested that 'notice be given of a vote in five days time (sooner if permitted) to introduce a short-term ban on any related-party transaction of any kind'. He suggested this rule should have the 'widest possible definition of a related-party, perhaps using the takeover code definitions when applied to companies like those in the Gulf region'.

This prompted Richard Masters, the Premier League's chief executive, to write to all member clubs to state that the top-flight would commence a consultation process to review certain aspects of PSR rules. Masters attached draft amendments to the rules, which would put in place a moratorium on what were now to be called associated party transactions (APTs). Eighteen clubs went on to temporarily suspend APTs before new APT regulations came into effect in December following another vote.

The executive who sent the email was cross-examined at the arbitration hearing after being called to give evidence by the Premier League. He said that 'any club that benefits from a transaction not at fair market value should be subject to the same rules just as we would expect that'.

To illustrate his point, the executive claimed that if a club had been taken over by an American consortium, 'who had links to lots of American companies', he would have expressed the same concerns. He said that there had been 'concern for a number of years about related-party transactions, associated party transactions taking place at above level' and added that the 'takeover of Newcastle United heightened those concerns again and encouraged the clubs to seek action'.

The three-man panel accepted that the Newcastle buy-out was the 'catalyst for the consultation process' leading up to the APT rules being introduced. However, the tribunal stressed that whilst it was 'the takeover of Newcastle United which caused him to send his email when he did, his concern related to any clubs that might use APTs'.